The morning we reached the last stop of our Mediterranean cruise ride, we were welcomed by the oldest and second largest city of France, and already saw its most magnificent building, Marseille’s most impressive landmark: the Basilica of Notre Dame de la Garde majestically bathing in a golden light at dawn.

After our classic French croissant breakfast on board, we decided to explore the city from top to bottom and began at the highest point, the glorious basilica mentioned above which also gives you a splendid 360 degree view of the city and its port which is beyond words to describe. You can spend hours just gazing at the city. From there you could also see the famous fortress Château d’If, a small mysterious island just like Alcatraz in California that used to be an excellent prison because of its isolated location and dangerous offshore currents. When I was in Nicolas’ age, I’ve eagerly read the adventurous book „The Count of Monte Christo“, and it makes me happy to see that my son enjoys reading it just like I did.

We hopped onto the cute little train and did a fun ride down to the Old Port, also known as Le Vieux Port. I believe it can’t get any more French than this. We loved strolling through Vieux Port and perusing the shops and restaurants there.

We knew when in Marseille we had to have its authentic flavorful seafood specialty: la Bouillabaisse! Little did we know when we ordered it (as their special suggestion of the day, it was not on the menu) and continued generously with desserts, lots of ice cream and the obligatory café au lait, of how pricey this experience would be. The moment we got the bill we literally fell off our chairs. On our way to the bathroom we discovered the price sign, strategically well hidden around a pillar). Lesson learned today: Although it’s “only” a soup (and although THE soup of Marseille) double check on the price first, ha!

Congratulations, you made it through all my Mediterranean trip reports, I definitely owe you a treat! 😉 This morning Juliana was asked by a friend of how she liked our trip and the cruise and what she liked best, and she answered: Bowling! And it made us all laugh …

Have a great rest of the week, until soon,